IBTMH 03

Chapter 3

Roose was sick all night. It was a good thing I had stayed sitting with the dolls. Only after the pale light of dawn had fully faded did I finally shake Roose awake.

[Are you okay? Can you open your eyes a bit?]

Roose slowly opened his eyes. I quickly held out my notebook. But his bluish dark eyes were still unfocused, so I wasn’t even sure if he could properly read it. Ice mages were said to have much lower body temperatures than normal people, but right now that didn’t seem to matter—his whole body was burning hot.

I changed the lukewarm wet cloth on his forehead, and while I was at it, I gently patted Lily and Pinocchio, who had stayed up all night helping me instead of sleeping.

“Good work.”

Both Lily and Pinocchio shrugged proudly.

〈It’s because Lunaar is working hard!〉

I lightly tapped Lily.

“That’s not the point.”

Lily firmly stated her opinion.

〈I didn’t know you were going to drag him all the way home!〉

Anyway, while I went to bring a doctor, I told the two dolls to take care of Roose like they had last night. When Lily lightly poked Roose’s cheek, Pinocchio immediately pushed her away. Their ways of arguing were certainly… varied.

I tied Lily to the laundry line. Then I took out another doll.

“Take care of him instead.”

The duck doll, Lulu, flapped its wings and nodded.

Lily struggled and twisted in frustration, while Pinocchio laughed at her. Lily kept reaching out to me to free her, but I pretended not to see and quickly left the house.

“Lunaar! Did you fix Kiki?”

Theo came over just in time. I handed him the squirrel doll I had brought out.

Kiki flapped its tiny arms happily as if greeting him. Theo smiled and gently touched its tail. Kiki twitched like it was ticklish.

“Thanks. Rnier was crying all day looking for Kiki.”

Theo said a bit awkwardly. Seeing faint grass stains on his sleeve, it looked like he had been comforting the crying Rnier, maybe even putting a flower crown on her.

“I should hurry and take it back.”

She probably wouldn’t cry anymore now. I lightly tapped Theo’s arm in encouragement. He understood and gave a short laugh. His freckled face showed clear affection for his little sister.

I waved to Theo and hurried on. Roose needed a doctor immediately.

Village of Viola, beneath the forest

Viola was quite a lively town. Of course, compared to the capital or noble estates it was nothing special, but compared to Flora village, anywhere would seem lively.

I quickly visited the doctor and explained Roose’s condition through my notebook. There was no way he could come down himself. I paid for a house call. Since there were no other patients at the moment, the doctor readily packed up and followed me.

The doctor didn’t seem completely unfamiliar with Flora either. When villagers greeted him along the way, he politely nodded back.

When we entered the house, the doctor looked quite startled by the moving dolls—Pinocchio, Lily, and Lulu. He also quickly glanced at me again.

Right. That’s the normal reaction. A house full of moving dolls usually meant either a doll mage… or someone rich enough to collect enchanted dolls made by one.

I signaled for him to begin quickly. He snapped out of it and examined Roose.

He checked the fever, examined the wounds. The injured area was red and hot with infection.

He disinfected Roose’s wound again and prescribed several medicines, including fever reducers. He also taught me how to change the bandages and handed me ointments.

The bandage I had wrapped yesterday probably wasn’t tight enough. Should I have let Pinocchio do it? No… if Pinocchio had done it, Roose might have suffocated.

Yeah. I’ll do it myself next time too.

“He needs to rest. The fever should go down within the day. If it doesn’t improve in two days, I’ll prepare stronger medicine.”

I nodded and paid him. I then asked Pinocchio to escort him down the village path.

The road to Viola was fairly well maintained, but it would still be troublesome for someone unfamiliar.

Lily had already gotten down from the laundry line. I placed her on the table and checked Roose’s forehead again. Still hot, but he looked slightly better. Maybe the medicine was strong.

Pinocchio came back and closed the door.

Almost at the same moment, I unconsciously grabbed Roose’s hand.

His body flinched slightly.

I tried to pull my hand away in embarrassment, but Roose’s weak grip held onto mine.

I could have forced it away easily, but his pale face looked like he might cry at any moment—even while asleep. Was he having a nightmare?

I pulled a chair over and sat down. Lily jumped onto my lap, and Lulu climbed onto the table and sat quietly.

“Ugh…”

Roose let out a weak groan.

〈Nightmare?〉 Lily asked.

〈Should we wake him?〉

I hesitated, watching him twitch.

“No… the doctor said to let him sleep.”

Roose murmured something in his sleep. I only tightened my grip slightly on his hand.

When I checked again in the morning, Roose was much better than before. I rechecked his wounds and carefully adjusted his blanket.

Should’ve just left it to the dolls and slept properly. My neck was stiff from sleeping in the chair.

I looked around the room. It was a bit too dusty for a patient recovering from serious injuries. Come to think of it, since Lily went out earlier, we had only been tidying things halfway.

Cleaning was needed.

“…You… why are you here…?”

[Roose, you’re awake?]

He slowly sat up. His voice was very hoarse.

“Cough… cough… what…?”

He couldn’t properly use his notebook yet.

I gave him some water. He licked his lips and drank it slowly. His face was still flushed, but better than yesterday.

“Water… more…”

I gave him more water as requested.

“You should eat something so you can take medicine.”

Roose nodded weakly after reading my notebook.

I called Lulu, the cleaning doll.

“The house is too messy.”

Lulu looked around, then grabbed a cloth and started cleaning.

Roose stared at Lulu’s round bouncing backside as it moved rhythmically while cleaning.

〈Hey! That’s rude!〉

“Sorry. Keep cleaning.”

“Is that… a cleaning doll?”

[Yes. It handles all cleaning in this house.]

“It’s so small…”

[It’s faster and cleaner than humans. Faster than me, at least.]

I placed a warm cup in Roose’s hands. He quietly held it for a long time before drinking.

“About my body?”

“Much better. Sleeping helped…”

[The doctor helped.]

“Then it’s the medicine. Thank you. I’ll repay this debt…”

No need.

I wrote.

[Talk about repayment after you regain your memory.]

“Alright.”

Roose looked a little awkward. I checked his temperature again. He turned his face slightly away in embarrassment.

“I was just checking your fever.”

“Ah… no, I’m sorry.”

I fed him more water.

Then I placed my hand on his forehead again. He lowered his head slightly this time.

“Good. The fever will go down soon.”

“…Is there anything I can do?”

He scratched his head awkwardly.

I immediately wrapped a bandage around his head again.

“Staying still is your job.”

“I’m fine now.”

At that moment, Pinocchio walked by—and suddenly poked Roose in the side.

“Ugh—!”

Roose doubled over in pain. His bandage immediately turned red again.

I froze.

Pinocchio calmly walked away as if nothing had happened.

“What is wrong with you…”

I rushed over to stop the bleeding and replace the bandage.

Roose weakly pointed at Pinocchio.

“…Is that… an assassin doll?”

[It’s a firewood-cutting doll…]

Roose looked genuinely shaken.

“That one… a cooking doll?”

He then looked at Lily arguing with Lulu, while Lulu angrily threw a mop down.

〈Then you clean it!〉
〈I’m a cooking doll! I can’t!〉
〈Then just shut up and go sit somewhere!〉

The noise filled the room.

“…And that one… is it not a debt-collecting doll?”

“What kind of person would even make that…”

I sighed.

[Cooking. Firewood. Cleaning.]

“No… that can’t be…”

But Roose still didn’t seem convinced at all.